The Pilot
"With his cheerful office off the lobby of The Pilot, David Woronoff greeted people who came through the door as if they were family, not just customers or readers."(Page 119)

The Pilot is an independently owned newspaper currently published three times a week in Southern Pines, where Jim Dodson is currently a writer in residence.

A paper with a storied and notable history, the first issue of The Pilot was published in 1920 by Stacy Brewer, who said the new publication was to be "devoted to the upbuilding of Vass and its surrounding country." Brewer sold the paper in 1928 to Nelson C. Hyde, a former editor of the Syracuse Herald in Syracuse, New York. The Pilot changed hands again when Hyde sold to his longtime friend James Boyd. Boyd was an award-winning author of Drums, as well as a contemporary of F Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe. Both were frequent visitors to his Southern Pines estate, Weymouth, which now houses the NC Literary Hall of Fame. His wife, Katharine Lamont Boyd, took over as publisher and editor after his passing in 1944. In 1968, she sold The Pilot to Sam Ragan, previously the executive editor of the Raleigh News & Observer. Ragan later served as NC's Poet Laureate.

In 1996, current owners Frank Daniels Jr., Frank Daniels III, David Woronoff, Jack Andrews and Lee Dirks -- all previously associated with the Raleigh News & Observer -- acquired The Pilot. Under their guidance, The Pilot has launched an online edition at thepilot.com which includes podcasts, a local online real estate guide, a new online classified placement system and online subscriber tools. In 1999, they completed a major renovation of The Pilot's offices on Pennsylvania Avenue, including a new printing press.

In 2002 and 2007, The Pilot won the "Best in the Nation" Non-Daily Newspaper Competition award from The Inland Press Association, and recently swept the NC Press Association Awards. The Pilot also publishes PineStraw Magazine, a popular arts monthly edited by Jim Dodson. During major golf tournaments in the area, The Pilot produces daily editions of the newspaper.

LINK: www.thepilot.com